Over the past week, Romney has been recalling a chance meeting with former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty years ago to get an edge on President Barack Obama after attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that resulted in the death of the veteran, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and other Americans.

The former Massachusetts governor appeared to get choked up on Tuesday as he told a crowd in Iowa that he had met Doherty when he mistakenly attended the wrong neighborhood party.

“We had a lot of things in common,” Romney said. “You can imagine how I felt when I found out that he was one of the two former Navy SEALs killed in Benghazi on Sept. 11th.”

But Elf Ellefsen, a friend of Doherty’s, said that the former SEAL’s recollection of Romney was not as favorable.

“He said it was very comical,” Ellefsen told Ron & Don radio show producer Libby Denkmann. “Mitt Romney approached him ultimately four times, using this private gathering as a political venture to further his image. He kept introducing himself as Mitt Romney, a political figure. The same introduction, the same opening line. Glen believed it to be very insincere and stale.”